


spirit of the season

by kyluxtrashcompactor



Series: the holidays sucked until you [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crack Treated Seriously, Enemies to Lovers, Halloween, Hux Has No Chill, Hux works at Burberry, Kylo works at Hot Topic, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rating May Change, Unresolved Sexual Tension, well kind of seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:50:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyluxtrashcompactor/pseuds/kyluxtrashcompactor
Summary: October was the beginning of the end, as far as Hux was concerned—the end of his peace of mind for three, long months. The retail business in a shopping mall was bad enough during the holidays, but having to run his upscale Burberry boutique across from a Hot Topic made everything worse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to a spontaneous trip to the Mall of America and [ this thread](https://twitter.com/JoolesZa/status/1041767902993698816) for starting this. Special love to Starkickback and Tinynarwhals for their contributions and encouragement!
> 
> For Huxloween 2018 prompts: 
> 
> October 6: Fall Decor / Make-up & Wigs 
> 
> October 20: Corn Maze / Scared Cuddling 
> 
> October 27: Fall Bakery Sweets 
> 
> October 31: First Halloween Together / Horror Movie AU w/ zombies / Things That Go Bump In the Night

Hux hated weekends. Especially during the holidays.

He pulled into the parking on Saturday morning with caffeine just beginning to buzz in his system and the aroma of a fresh, Starbucks pumpkin scone wafting up to him from the brown paper sack on the passenger’s seat. He was looking forward to the few quiet moments he would have in the office for breakfast before the inevitable chaos of the weekend, when the shopping mall that housed his Burberry boutique would become an ant-hive teeming with unsupervised teenagers.

And they would be even worse today, all of them infected with the _spirit of the season_. It began every year on the first weekend of October like some sort of zombie plague that spread through the consumer public, an ever increasing hysteria that reached critical mass just before Christmas when people were ready to tear each other’s throats out over Lego sets and Star Wars merchandise.

Hux would be glad when people got tired of _that_ franchise. He’d had enough of kids wielding glowing, plastic light-sabers in the halls with only the sort of abandon that can occur when their parents aren’t paying the least bit of attention.

At least there was one pleasant thing about the season. Well, two. For one, Hux loved the way the air was cleaner and brought out the riot of October colors. As he pulled his car into a parking space, he took a moment to appreciate the trees ringing the lot. Many of the maples had turned early—they were impatient trees and were on their way to a brilliant yellow weeks before the other foliage. Now there were reds, fire-bright oranges and muted golds. Fall in the northern states was unpredictable, and a single, hard storm could scatter the leaves overnight and usher in the long, bleak winter, but for now, it was beautiful.

The second thing Hux loved about fall, he thought to himself as he turned off the car and picked up his paper sack from the seat beside him, was the fact that industries everywhere found innumerable ways to insert pumpkin spice flavor into every consumable product imaginable: baked goods, coffee, ale, chocolate, lip gloss (not that he ever wore that), candles. He looked forward to the entire, ridiculous ensemble every year, and he wasn’t the least bit sorry for it. It reminded him of his mother’s baking, and it was one of the few things that he remembered about her.

By the time he unlatched the car door and nudged it open, letting in the crisp fall air, Hux was almost at peace with the start of the work day—his coffee cup was warm in his hand, the scone making his mouth water pleasantly, and the rustle of a soft breeze was stirring the treetops with a gentle music.

And then Kylo Ren had to _ruin_ it.

The moment Ren turned the corner in his black Chevy pick-up, the acoustics of the mall’s four-story walls bounced the obnoxious punk rock howling from the radio across the entire, empty parking lot, robbing Hux of his precious moment of serenity.

Hux grimaced, briefly stalled in exiting the car by sheer irritation. The door swung slowly inward again until he was pinched behind it, but it served as a makeshift shield between him and his arch-nemesis.

“It’s _October_ ,” Hux shouted at Ren as he pulled up in the parking space next to him, windows down. “ _You’re polluting the air_.”

The truck rumbled, a deep purr beneath the screeching coming from the speakers. Ren’s hair was smashed down beneath a ribbed, black and gray striped beanie and he was wearing aviator sunglasses despite the overcast weather.

Ren craned his neck through the window. _“What?”_

Hux felt, rather than heard, the growl in his own chest. He peeled himself out of the space behind his car door and nudged it shut with his elbow, muttering under his breath a litany of things about this man that he could do without. _Awful taste in music, always parks beside him no matter how empty the parking lot is, dresses like a goth rejected from the ‘90s, no sense of personal space, always chewing fucking gum and calling attention to that_ ridiculous _mouth._

Hux was halfway to the south east employee entrance when the music behind him abruptly cut off and the parking lot was plunged once again into early morning silence. Hux almost took a deep breath, and then Kylo’s door clicked, swung open on stiff, squawking hinges, and then slammed shut. Hux heard Kylo’s jumbled mass of keys hit the ground (just like they did three of five mornings), and Kylo swore and scraped them up. Then, just like always, Kylo’s heavy boot-tread thumped across the parking lot behind Hux until they were side by side.

“Morning, pumpkin,” Kylo said, and Hux could _feel_ Kylo’s shit-eating grin despite refusing to look at him.

“Do _not_ call me that,” Hux snapped, quickening his pace while Kylo’s bulk alongside him blotted out the sun like a black hole.

“You love it.”

Before Hux could object, Kylo darted ahead of him and took up the space in front of the employee door, overlarge thumb pressing in the code on the pad beside it. There was a metallic click, and then Kylo was pulling the door open for him, just like always.

Hux had given up objecting to this misplaced chivalry a long time ago, but he still cast Kylo a wary glance as he glided through the doorway.

“When are you going to get a real job?” Hux asked.

“When are you?” Kylo retorted, letting the door close with a heavy thunk and following along in Hux’s wake, down the long, dim hallway that would take them to the mall proper.

Hux took a sip of his coffee, grimacing. “Proprietor of quality fashion is a far sight better than pandering cheap, emo costumes to dramatic teens.”

He heard Kylo snort, which was what passed for him not being offended at Hux’s vitriol. “Speaking of costumes, what are you doing on Halloween?”

“I don’t believe in Halloween,” he told Ren tightly.

_“Don’t believe in Halloween_ ,” Kylo echoed in a rather good imitation of Hux’s diluted Irish accent. He slipped past Hux, their shoulders brushing just slightly, and intercepted the next door. Leaning against the bar with his hip, Kylo pushed it open for Hux, and couldn’t resist a parting shot as Hux walked through. “If you need anyone to help you work that stick out of your ass, let me know.”

Hux almost missed a step, feeling his coffee slosh against the plastic lid. He paused, looking back at Ren incredulously.

Kylo raised both eyebrows, just visible above the rim of his shades, and those obscene lips curled up into a smile. Hux felt the bridge of his own nose heat, and he was suddenly glad for the chilly fall air and the hot coffee that could easily explain the color.

“I do not have a stick up my ass,” Hux told Ren, instantly regretting it and biting his tongue.

“Mmhmm,” Kylo hummed, letting the door fall shut and loping away from Hux toward the shuttered facade of the Hot Topic. Halfway there, he spun on his heel to walk backward, grinning at Hux. “If you change your mind,” he said, “I’m really good with my hands.” He splayed them out at his sides, calling Hux’s attention to just how large they were, and to the length of those thick fingers.

Kylo whirled away again before Hux could untie his tongue to deliver a scathing retort, and Hux absolutely did _not_ watch him walk the rest of the way to his store, black skinny jeans clinging like a second skin to…

...well. Hux wasn’t looking. Not at all.

 

While Hux hated holidays, he couldn’t say that he hated decorating for them when his canvas was anything other than his own flat. Something about decorating a space that no one but he would see felt sad—one step up from being a cat lady, to be honest. For the last four years, however, he’d diligently collected boxes full of tasteful fall decor for the window displays at work and always arrived early on the first weekend of October to put them up.

He was perched on the ledge of the front window, tucking the cord for a string of pale orange lights beneath the carpeted baseboard, when it suddenly struck him that the first weekend of October was the _only_ weekend he arrived at seven A.M. Well, that and the first weekend of December. Normally, he pulled into the parking lot at half past eight, just long enough to get his register prepped, turn the lights on and spool up the ambient music.

Hux glanced through the window, catching a glimpse of Kylo as he adjusted a green wig on one of the front display mannequins. Nine Inch Nails was pumping out of the store speakers, much louder than it would have to be once mall patrons started trickling in.

Kylo had been a gangly, eighteen year old college freshman when he’d first gotten the job across from Hux’s boutique. Hux, in his last year of school, had only peripherally noticed the kid, too busy with final exams and end of term parties, but gradually Kylo had become a weekly fixture as Hux continued on to grad school and rose to part time manager at his Burberry store.

With as much of a mouth as Ren had on him, it surprised Hux that he had kept the job for four years. Rumor around campus was that Kylo could close down bars with the best of them, and Hux had seen Kylo drag himself in on Sunday mornings more than once with bleary eyes and wild hair, like he’d rolled out of bed just how he’d fallen into it. But he’d never been late, and after the first year of passing each other in the employee hall, Kylo started showing up early just, as far as Hux could tell, to hold doors open for him while giving him shit.

Their eyes met through the window briefly as Kylo finished sticking a tacky, glittering purple pumpkin decal to the glass, and Hux looked away abruptly, scowling.

A half hour later, satisfied with his display (which was merely autumn themed, and _not_ Halloween), Hux closed up the last of the empty decoration boxes and picked up his coffee cup. There was nothing left but lukewarm dregs, and Hux decided he had time left to dart down to the Starbucks.

He stored the boxes in the back and strolled out the front door, glaring at the awful display Kylo had cooked up to contrast Hux’s eloquent decor. It was like this every year—a cold war of understated, classic decorations and garish, angsty, bedazzling that made Hux’s teeth hurt.

He couldn’t resist a quick detour on his way to procure more caffeine, poking his head into Kylo’s store.

“So is this what your bedroom looks like?” he asked, waving a hand at the purple string lights and cheap plastic skeleton Kylo was suspending from the ceiling.

Ren looked at him, his dark eyes glittering in the black light. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Hux huffed. “In your dreams, Ren..”

“Every night,” Kylo said, smirking, and Hux had no recourse but to walk away.

 

The Starbucks was one flight up, and if there was one thing that Hux _did_ like about Dopheld Mitaka, it was that he, too, was habitually early to work. It meant that Hux didn’t have to wait until his mid-morning break to grab a second, much needed coffee.

Mitaka had seen him coming, apparently, because when Hux arrived at the counter slightly flushed from his jog away from Ren and up the stairs, Mitaka was facing away, pouring a steaming cup of Hux’s favorite brew.

“Morning, Armitage,” he said, inappropriately cheerful for this time of day.

“It’s Hux,” Hux growled, slapping his wallet down on the counter and pulling out his debit card.

“Is Ben working today?” Mitaka asked, like Hux hadn’t spoken.

“Why do you call him Ben?” Hux asked as Mitaka turned around and picked a molded lid out of the stack near the register.

Mitaka’s expression was guileless. “Because that’s his name?”

For some reason, this made Hux bristle. “His name is Kylo. Maybe if you ever spoke to him…” He pushed his debit card across the counter pointedly.

Mitaka’s face fell, highlighting the low blow Hux had known that remark to be. It was painfully apparent that Mitaka was nursing quite a crush on Kylo; the kid was far too much of a prude for Hot Topic, and yet Hux saw him in the store pretending to browse the merchandise while staring over the racks with wide, puppy-dog eyes at least once a week. Hux wondered if Kylo ever noticed that Mitaka never bought anything.

“His cousin Rey is in one of my classes,” Mitaka was telling Hux as he keyed Hux’s order into the register. “She says he’s going to be doing a fifth year. Double major, or something.”

“Lovely,” Hux droned, popping the lid off his coffee and blowing across the steaming surface. “Does that mean you’re going to wait to propose until after graduation?”

Mitaka colored and raked a hand back through his dark hair. He pushed Hux’s debit card and overlong receipt at him. Hux glanced at the _‘free small coffee after taking this survey’_ notice at the bottom and wadded it up.

“I heard Delta Lambda Phi is throwing a big Halloween party,” Mitaka supplied in a neat change of topic. “Supposed to be the best one this year. Haunted house and everything.”

It was no secret. It was the biggest party on campus every year, but those days were behind Hux. He pocketed his wallet and shook his head.

“Want me to ask Kylo if he’ll be your date? Costume buddy?” Hux asked, surprised at the way the words came out rather more acerbicly than he’d intended.

Mitaka’s blush deepened, but instead of cringing, he lifted his chin and stared Hux down. “Maybe I’ll ask him myself,” he said. “Since you're obviously never going to.”

“ _Me_?” Hux said. “Ask Kylo Ren out?”

Mitaka raised an eyebrow, lips pursed in a look that—if Hux didn’t know better—seemed to say _‘you’re not fooling anyone, Armitage Hux.’_ Before he could think of the best way to put the little sprite in his place, the loud speakers above the food court came on, heralding the start of the retail day.

That was Hux’s cue to get back to his store, gratefully taken.

 

Hux was turning Mitaka’s last words over in his mind as he walked back to the store, and was distracted enough that he didn’t realize something was wrong until he was nearly through the door.

He almost dropped his coffee in his haste to back up, bringing the full, awful scope of things into view.

One of his mannequins was now sporting a black t-shirt emblazoned with ‘ _The First Order_ ,’ which was, if Hux wasn’t mistaken, Kylo’s awful punk rock band. The mannequin in the opposite window was wearing a purple wig and had a wand strapped to its hand with a black and silver studded slap-bracelet. There were neon plastic pumpkins strewn amidst Hux’s realistic display of leaves and twined branches, and a velvet, arching cat planted at the foot of one of the models.

“ _Damn_ it,” Hux hissed, rushing inside and depositing his coffee on the register counter. He was on his way back to the window display to rip out all of Kylo’s additions when he caught a small pin hooked to one of the $1100 wool coats on the nearest rack. Stopping abruptly, Hux grabbed the lapel and plucked it off.

It was red, sporting a pin up model wearing devil horns, and it said _hot stuff_ in lettering that wavered like flames.

Hux shoved it in his pocket, too angry to analyze whether Ren had chosen that pin deliberately.

It took Hux twenty minutes to reset his window display in a desperate flurry, heart thrumming at the idea of anyone stopping into his store and seeing what Kylo had done to it. Worse by far was the fact that Ren was leaning in the open doorway of the Hot Topic watching him with arms folded and long legs crossed at the ankles, looking absolutely smug.

Hux’s first customer of the day arrived just as Hux was tossing the last of Kylo’s impromptu decor into the back, but when walking to the front breathlessly to greet the man, Hux spotted _another_ button. It was stuck to one of the brand’s signature plaid scarves on the back wall, a round rainbow pattern standing out against the ochre and red.

Hux steered his customer toward the shirts he’d come to browse and then hurried toward the back, reaching out and snatching the whole scarf off the wall mount. He was coaxing the button free as carefully as he good with trembling hands when he finally managed to focus through his panic enough to read the writing stamped on the rainbow background.

_‘I’m so gay I can’t think straight.’_

Hux shoved this one in his pocket too, cheeks burning.

 

It wasn’t the last of the buttons hidden around the store, nor the only bit of merchandise from Hot Topic that had made its way over. Hux found t-shirts with band logos hanging amidst the crisp, starched button-downs and packaged fishnets nestled in the sock displays. He removed them all as discreetly as possible, and while he didn’t think any of the store’s patrons noticed, Hux was nevertheless an anxious mess by the time his hourly employee arrived just before noon.

Hux normally took his break to walk down to the food court for lunch, but this time he used it to march across to Kylo’s store, ready to confront the bastard.

He found Kylo behind the register, chatting amiably with a pair of teenagers that he seemed perfectly matched with, and Ren glanced past them to meet Hux’s eyes briefly. The cheap, retail smile he had plastered on morphed into a mix of warmth and amusement, and it made Hux’s skin feel too tight. Part of him wanted to yank the handful of buttons out of his pants’ pocket and hurl them across the counter at the devil, but the customer service specialist in him balked at the idea.

Instead, he would use Kylo’s current preoccupation to his own advantage.

Hux could feel Kylo’s eyes on him as he wandered through the store, plucking disdainfully at the clothing on the racks. Pretending to consider the juvenile designs on this or that shirt, he somehow managed to tug them off their hangers and let them fall the floor, or he affected needing to go through every size in the carefully and precisely folded stacks ‘trying to find one that would fit’ while leaving the whole lot of them in disarray.

He rearranged sales racks, taking the items on the clearance shelves off and replacing them with regular stock, smiling wickedly at the thought of Kylo having to explain why something was not ringing up at the advertised price and having to discount it to apologize for the confusion.

He’d made it to the costume section and was peeling open the plastic sleeves housing cheap wigs and pulling them out when he felt a hand close over his upper arm.

“Okay,” Kylo hissed, far too close to Hux’s ear for comfort. He reached around Hux, still holding his arm, and plucked the wig out of Hux’s hand gingerly. “We’re even.”

“Like hell we are,” Hux snapped, pulling out of Kylo’s grip and whirling around. “Do you know what could have happened if someone had found _fishnet tights_ for sale at Burberry?”

Kylo laughed. This close, Hux could smell his watermelon gum. “Maybe they would have had a sense of humor about it. Unlike you.” Before Hux could stop him, Kylo reached up and pulled the wig down sharply over Hux’s carefully styled hair.

Hux was momentarily too incensed to react, ignoring the synthetic, hot pink tresses that fell in waves to his shoulders. “The kind of clientele I serve would _not_ have found that amusing,” he lectured Kylo, finally reaching into his pocket for the buttons he’d collected. “Just like I do not find _these_ amusing.” He stretched his arm out and deposited the handful into the nearest display bin.

Kylo did not seem phased, and was instead unpackaging a set of sequined devil horns he’d just taken from the same bin. “Doesn’t sound like the kind of clientele you serve is very much fun,” he told Hux, lifting the devil horns up and fitting them to Hux’s head.

Hux’s hand flew to his head and he tried to peel Kylo’s fingers away from the plastic headband. “Stop it,” he snapped, but Kylo didn’t let go, pinning the devil horns in place and subsequently framing Hux’s face with his hands. Hux flushed, then quirked both eyebrows up. “You never know what someone is like behind closed doors,” he added.

He’d meant, of course, the customers that Kylo had just accused of being boring, but it had come out sounding like a not-so-subtle insinuation regarding his own proclivities. Kylo’s doe eyes rounded slightly before crinkling with amusement, and Hux finally managed to jerk free.

He snatched the wig off his head, dragging the sequined horns with it. “If I catch you in my store again,” Hux said. “I’m calling security.”

Kylo affected a shudder, holding his hands in the air. “Not the mall cops, Hux. Please.”

Hux brandished the wig at him. “I’m serious.”

Kylo folded his arms, nodding toward the wig. “You should take that with you. Looks cute. Maybe you’d sell more expensive underwear if you wore it in the store.”

Hux’s mouth fell open. “You really are a child, you know that?” he said.

Kylo shrugged one shoulder, plucking something from the costume display. Hux only gave the glittering jar a cursory glance before pushing Kylo out of his way and stalking past him. His break was almost over, and he’d had nothing for lunch—if he hurried, he could grab a bagel sandwich.

He was halfway to the door when he heard Kylo call his name. He shouldn’t have stopped, should have kept going, but instead he turned around to glare back at his nemesis.

“What?”

Kylo sauntered over to him, moving slow like a cat stalking its prey. Hux’s eyes flicked down the shape of Kylo’s torso, from broad shoulders to tapered waist before he caught himself, hoping Kylo hadn’t noticed.

If the pleased look on Kylo’s face said anything, though, he had.

Hux admittedly felt some of his righteous ire draining away, if only because he was distracted by the way Kylo was suddenly very much inside Hux’s personal space bubble. Hux’s natural reflexes in such a situation would have him leaning away, but instead, he found himself swaying forward toward Kylo’s soft cadence.

“I promise I was just trying to help,” Kylo said, edging closer to Hux. “Don’t be mad.”

“Actions have consequences,” Hux sniffed. “I could have lost my job.”

Kylo’s lips twitched and he whispered, conspiratorially, “I would have hired you, then.”

Hux rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to move forward in life, Kylo. Not back.”

Kylo ignored the jab—he always seemed immune to Hux’s snark, for whatever reason. “You really should lighten up,” he murmured instead, lifting a hand to touch the tips of his fingers to Hux’s cheek.

Hux flinched, surprised, but somehow couldn’t make himself pull away. He felt mesmerized, like someone watching a train sailing down the tracks toward a stalled car. His whole body tingled when Kylo’s thumb brushed his bottom lip, stroking across the swell of it when Hux didn’t immediately pull away. Hux wasn’t sure which of them swayed closer, but there was suddenly very little space between them, and Hux’s heart was drumming hard against his ribs, sure that Kylo was about to kiss him.

And then just as unexpectedly, Kylo pulled away, soft smile replaced by a wicked grin. Hux’s attention was caught by Kylo’s hand held out between them, a small offering in his palm. Dumbstruck, Hux stared at it while he waited for his synapses to start firing again, and finally managed to lift his own hand to take the little quarter-sized jar from Kylo’s palm.

It was capped with a pink lid, sealed, and Hux tilted it to see something red and glittering through the clear plastic side. He turned it slowly until he could read the label.

_Disney Princess Lip Gloss._

Cold realization dawned and Hux’s hand flew to his lips, which he’d only just thought Kylo had wanted to _kiss_. Instead they were smudged with cheap lipstick, and his fingers came away pinkish-red and glittery.

Kylo was trying to hold his laughter in, fist pressed over his lips and eyes sparkling with mirth.

“I hate you,” Hux snarled.

“I know,” Kylo muttered from behind his hand, backing away a step when Hux thrust the wig and the lip gloss at him.

Hux whirled away to head toward the nearest restroom where he could wash his face. Lip gloss could be removed, but glitter was nigh on indestructible, and he paled at the thought of how the lights of the Burberry boutique would pick out every little sparkling granule.

“Don’t ever talk to me again,” Hux called over his shoulder as he walked out of the store.

Kylo didn’t miss a beat. “See you in the morning, pumpkin.”  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Kylo was in the middle of ringing up a purchase when he caught, out of the corner of his ever-watchful eye, Hux leaving work early.

“Mara!” he stage-whispered to the girl stocking the shelf at his knee with register tape. “Take over for me.”

He could feel the eyes of the two teenagers at the counter boring into him, no doubt offended not to have his full attention, but he ignored them for the moment and covered it by shaking out one of the shirts they were purchasing and refolding it. He nudged Mara with his foot when she didn’t reply immediately.

“Kylo, I swear to God,” she said, sliding the cabinet door shut with a _thwack_ and glaring up at him. She dropped her voice to a hissed whisper as well. “If I take over for you and you don’t go ask him out _right now_ I am not working for you Halloween night.”

Kylo felt his eyes widen. “Fine,” he lied, stuffing the carefully folded shirt into a plastic bag, crumpling it in the process.

Mara stood up and snatched the bag out of his grasp. She gave the two teenagers an over-zealous, red-lipped smile and elbowed Kylo out of the way. Kylo bit down on his bottom lip to keep from grinning like a kid who'd just been let out of school for the summer and he grabbed a stack of discount tickets for a haunted house from beneath the register. He peeled two off and slapped them down on the counter in front of the teens.

“Happy Almost Halloween,” he said.

Kylo darted out of the door and across the corridor, heading for the employee exit. He pushed through the first set of doors in time to see Hux stepping outside at the end of the hallway. Cursing to himself, heart thumping with nerves, Kylo raced after him, glad at least that Hux wasn’t witness to his mad dash to catch up. Kylo made it to the end and shoved the door open, only to have it collide with something solid. Something that squawked with displeasure.

“Watch what you’re doing, for God’s sake,” Hux snapped, turning back to glare at Kylo. His eyes were _so_ green in the autumn sunlight.

Kylo smiled sheepishly as he edged outside more sedately. “Sorry.”

Hux continued to glare at him dubiously, then went back to typing on his phone. Kylo shoved his hands into his own pockets and stood beside Hux, rocking back and forth anxiously on the balls of his feet.

“So what are you up to tonight?” he blurted all in one breath.

Hux lifted an eyebrow, lips pursed. “What’s it to you?”

“Just trying to make conversation, Hux,” Kylo said, then cursed himself. Four years working across from each other in the mall, and they’d never _made conversation_ in the middle of the parking lot. It was clearly suspicious.

Hux looked at him and tucked his phone into the inner pocket of his pea coat. “I had planned to go home, drink wine, and spend time with my cat,” he said.

Kylo let out a short laugh before he caught himself and cleared his throat to cover it up. “The weather is gorgeous,” he said. “The trees are pretty. You should be _outside_ in the fall. Enjoy the color before the snow flies.”

Hux seemed to consider. “You’re right. I’ll sit by the window while I drink my wine and spend time with my cat,” he said. With that, he was walking across the parking lot toward his car.

_Fuck. This was not going as planned._

“We’re going to a corn maze tonight,” Kylo said.

Hux’s steps faltered and he looked back. “We are?”

Kylo’s heart fluttered, realizing Hux had misunderstood him in the best way. “Um. I mean, me and my cousin Rey and her boyfriend. And Dopheld. You should come, too.”  

Hux’s expression turned into a scowl, eyebrows making a vee over his perfect nose. “Dopheld, huh? Did he finally grow a pair?”

Kylo squinted. “What do you mean?” Doph was always hanging around the store, an awkward, mousy kid that reminded Kylo of a younger brother. When he’d asked Kylo if he wanted to go to the corn maze tonight, Kylo had agreed partly because he felt sorry for the kid, and partly because it seemed like a perfect opportunity to ask Hux out. Finally.

“Nevermind,” Hux said, drawing up to his full height and squaring his shoulders with a smirk. “And fine. If Dopheld is going, then I'd love to be involved.”

There was a competitive edge to Hux’s voice, like Hux didn’t intend to let Dopheld be the only one enjoying the fall weather, but Kylo was too thrilled to contemplate it overmuch. He took one shuffling step toward Hux and stopped himself.

“So um...you want me to pick you up?” Kylo asked, biting his bottom lip at how utterly _hopeful_ he sounded. He should have brought a bouquet of flowers and gotten down on one knee, the way this was going.

Hux’s tongue wet his lips, and then he shook his head. “No. I’ll meet you there,” he said. “It’s the place with the haunted house and the hay ride and all that, right?”

The same place Kylo had given those teenagers discount tickets to not ten minutes ago. “Yeah. Five-thirty okay?”

Hux hesitated, chewing his bottom lip like he was considering one last time whether this was a good idea, but he finally nodded. “Okay.”

He turned away before Kylo could say anything else, striding to his car with swift steps. Kylo watched him slide into the driver’s seat and then pull out of the parking lot. Only as Hux was rounding the building toward the on-ramp for the highway did Kylo realize he was rooted to the spot staring after him like an abandoned puppy. He let out a long, shaky breath that ended with a wide grin as he fumbled his cell out of his pocket.

Kylo’s fingers were quivering as he typed.

 

_[Kylo: 2:07pm] omfg he said yes_

 

_[Rey: 2:07pm] told u._

 

_[Kylo: 2:08] i think i’m in love._

 

_[Rey: 2:08] duh. It’s gross._

 

Kylo released a breathy, nervous laugh and shoved his phone back in his pocket, realizing all at once that he’d left his coat and his keys inside. This was what Hux did to him--made him stupid and put stars in his eyes that he couldn't see past. And made him suffer through working at Hot Topic years after he would have quit to find something less obnoxious. The clientele reminded him too much of himself as a teenager, the merchandise he had to hawk made him feel silly, and mostly--he absolutely hated working in the mall. Too many people.

But, he thought as he loped back across the parking lot to retrieve his things from the store, he’d never been more grateful for a job.

 

\--

 

Kylo’s buoyant mood lasted until just after 5:45 pm that night.

The bright blue sky had become shrouded with low-hanging, thick gray clouds and the air was wet and smelled like it was seconds from snowing. Kylo hovered near the parking lot in a knot with Rey, Finn, and Dopheld, paying only marginal attention to Finn telling a story about playing rugby with the team dressed up as zombies. Honestly, it sounded fun, but Kylo couldn’t concentrate on anything except the fact that Hux _wasn’t here._

He checked the time on his phone again, sighing. “You guys should go on,” he said, glancing at everyone. His gaze rested on Dopheld last, and noted that the kid looked sour.

“He’s obviously not coming,” Doph muttered.

“He’ll be here,” Kylo insisted, though he was far from sure at this point. “I’ll just wait a little longer. You guys go ahead before it’s too dark.”

Dopheld opened his mouth to say something else, but Rey cleared her throat, nudging him with her elbow. “Come on,” she said. “We’ll all meet up afterward and get cider."

Dopheld looked at Kylo again and sighed, his breath pluming in the moist air. He lifted both shoulders in a shrug and turned away, shuffling toward the entrance of the maze while Rey and Finn followed. Kylo watched them long enough to see Rey look over her shoulder and roll her eyes at him. Whatever that meant.

Kylo turned back to scanning the parking lot, which was nothing more than a bit of cleared land along the stretch of highway where cars could pull off. He hadn’t thought to bring a jacket because he’d been too high on the idea of seeing Hux outside of work that ever being _cold_ again hadn’t felt like a thing, but now he had to tuck his freezing fingers beneath his arms. His nose was running and his empty stomach reminded him that he’d forgotten to eat today.

And all that anticipation for nothing, it seemed.

He remembered the first time he’d seen Hux. Kylo had been eighteen, fresh out of high school and applying everywhere in the mall that had an opening. He’d just had an interview at Hot Topic where the manager seemed to think his habitual neo-goth style meant he was the kind of kid that the store’s target audience would relate to. Truthfully, Kylo had never been inside a Hot Topic before that moment, but he didn’t say so.

He’d walked out of the store after the interview only to see Hux standing in the entrance of the fancy Burberry boutique chatting with a customer. Kylo had been immediately entranced, watching the way Hux’s white teeth shone when he smiled, how his red hair was artfully displaced. It was a moment before Kylo realized that Hux _worked_ at the store, and that if Kylo were to take that job at the Hot Topic, he’d get to look at him every day.

It was stupid. Rey had told him he was creepy for it, but Kylo hadn’t regretted one day of the job, despite the fact that Hux barely spoke to him and was an arsehole when he did. Kylo lived for the way Hux brushed by him when Kylo held the door open for him, for the glances Hux would give him through the glass storefront when he thought Kylo wasn’t looking, for the few times he’d made Hux smile.

“There you are.”

Kylo flinched, turning his head. Hux was standing a foot away, clutching his cell phone in one hand.

Kylo opened his mouth and then closed it, at a loss for words; his head was too jumbled with thoughts. _Holy shit you actually came. You look gorgeous. That sweater looks really soft. Do you have a fucking tongue ring??_

“Hey,” he said instead. _Eloquent._

Hux gave him an owlish look. “I thought you said your friends were coming. And _Dopheld_.”

Kylo glanced in the direction that the others had gone and waved his hand toward the entrance to the maze. “Yeah. They went ahead because it’s almost dark. We um...weren’t sure you were coming.”

Hux tugged at his sweater, straightening it over his jeans. Kylo had never seen him in _jeans_ , and he resisted the urge to circle him to get the full picture. “Well I said I was coming, didn’t I?” Hux asked.

Of course Hux wouldn’t apologize for being late. At least not out loud. Kylo could see Hux’s pale cheeks were suffused with pink, however.

“You look…” _Amazing. Gorgeous. Perfect._ “...really nice.” Kylo told him, pleased when the color in Hux’s cheeks spread down the slender column of his throat.

“You, of course, are as emo as ever,” Hux said, reaching out and plucking at Kylo’s black, long-sleeved shirt with its leering white jack-o-lantern eyes and gruesome, toothed grin.

Kylo’s heart skipped a beat when Hux touched him, their eyes meeting briefly before Hux looked away toward the maze.

“So, what is this all about?” he asked.

“Fun,” Kylo said, pulling himself together and grinning, cares forgotten. “Come on.”

Kylo had already bought their tickets, and Hux didn’t protest when Kylo pressed one into his hand. Kylo’s fingers tingled where their skin brushed, but Hux didn’t seem to notice. He waited for Kylo to lead the way into the maze, and Kylo almost laughed at the wary look on Hux’s face.

“Have you really never been to one of these?” he asked.

“Do I look like the kind of person who wanders through stalks of corn for fun?” Hux asked.

Kylo grinned. “Honestly, yes.”

Hux gave him a look. “And what does that mean?”

Kylo just smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out to twine his fingers through Hux’s. Dusk was descending rapidly, the sun already blotted out by the clouds, and occasional flakes of snow drifted down.

“So how’s school going this year?” Kylo asked instead, shifting to the side to allow another couple to pass by. Hux’s shoulder pressed against his for a brief second and then was gone again.

Hux shrugged. “It’s school,” he said. “I’ll be glad when it’s over.”

“You graduate in May?” Kylo felt a pang, thinking about it. He’d had four years to ask Hux out, and now was probably last minute, too close to graduation and Hux taking flight for a new career.

“That’s the plan,” Hux said. “I’m planning to…” He was cut short with a gasp when something to their right rattled the corn stalks roughly, the dry leaves rasping and crackling and followed by a deep-throated, maniacal laugh. “What the hell is this, Ren? Children of the Corn?”

Kylo laughed. “It’s a _haunted_ corn maze.”

“You didn’t mention that part,” Hux complained, circling around Kylo and putting him between Hux and the corn stalks.

“Sorry,” Kylo said, grinning. He nudged Hux with his arm. “I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”

Hux snorted. “I thought you’d be protecting Dopheld tonight.”

Just as Kylo was about to respond, the corn stalks began rattling again, footsteps crunching over dry leaves until someone shot out from the field ahead of them. The person was dressed in a plaid shirt, ragged and faded over filthy jeans that looked like they were stained with blood, and they wore a burlap bag over their face with jagged eye-holes.

Hux yelped and jumped back, bumping into Kylo as the actor stood menacingly in the center of the pathway, legs spread like they were about to pounce. Behind Kylo and Hux were a chorus of shocked and delighted shrieks, and then just as quickly as they had appeared, the actor was off again, disappearing into the stalks on the opposite side of the path.

Hux was frozen beside him, hands splayed in front of himself defensively, and Kylo laughed. Without thinking about it, Kylo reached up and put a hand between Hux’s shoulder blades.

“It’s just an actor,” Kylo told him.

Hux jerked away. “I _know_ that. I’m not an idiot.”

Kylo smiled and started walking again, slowly. Hux followed him, crossing his arms and keeping close enough that their elbows brushed with every other step.

“So anyway,” Hux said. “You didn’t hit it off with Dopheld tonight?”

Kylo glanced at him. It was nearly dark now, and Hux’s expression was shrouded. “I mean...he went off with Rey and Finn. Why?”

Hux threw him an incredulous look. “You realize he’s had a crush on you for years. It’s quite disgusting.”

Kylo almost missed a step. “Seriously?”

“Yes, _seriously_. You must be completely blind.”

Kylo huffed. “I kind of only have eyes for one person,” he said, deliberately not looking at Hux. “But that’s cute.”

Somewhere in the field was a blood curdling shriek that was cut short abruptly, followed by more sinister laughter. They rounded a turn in the path and Hux gasped, stepping sideways into Kylo. Kylo caught him with a steadying hand on his hip as Hux pointed to something laying at the edge of the field opposite them. It was a well-crafted skeleton, skull lolling out of the corn stalks with vacant eyes looking right at them, the bones of one arm and hand stretching out of the field like someone had died trying to claw their way out.

Hux flinched again when three kids went tearing past, howling with laughter, and Kylo pulled Hux closer against him, drunk on the way that Hux hadn’t pushed him away.

“I officially hate this,” Hux said around his shallow breathing.

Gingerly, Kylo moved his hand from Hux’s hip, sliding it up until his arm circled Hux’s waist. Hux was so _small_ . So slender and delicate and Kylo _wanted_ him. He felt warm and his sweater _was_ soft, just like Kylo imagined Hux’s skin would be.

He felt Hux’s body stiffen and shift and when Hux pulled away, Kylo tried not to wilt with disappointment. Hux did not, however, put distance between them as they started walking again.

Lights were starting to come on in the field now--eerie greens and reds--and either fog machines or dry ice was spilling thick mist over the path. Real crows cawed overhead, the stalks rustling naturally in the gusting wind.

“So…” Hux began, keeping a wary eye on the field to his left while seemingly content to allow Kylo to guard his right side. “Who is this _one person_ that is between you and Dopheld’s wildest dreams?”

Kylo swiped his tongue over his lips to moisten them, caught between being sure Hux was fishing and afraid that he wasn’t. “Just some cute boy,” he said. “Who doesn’t have the time of day for me.”

“Ah,” Hux said. “One of _those_ crushes.” He glanced over at Kylo with a coy smile. “Those are the worst.”

Kylo’s cheeks heated and his confidence waned a bit. Had Hux known all along, and was he making fun of him for it?

“He’ll realize how good we’d be together one day,” Kylo said, toeing the line between very openly flirting and the fact that Hux couldn’t know for sure that Kylo was referring to him. It was a heady rush.

“Will he, now?” Hux mused thoughtfully.

Up ahead, Kylo spotted what seemed to be a prop--a man-sized model of a scarecrow with a grotesque, carved pumpkin for a head. It was set back in the corn, obscured by the unnatural fog and illuminated only by the reddish light that shown through the stalks opposite the path. Hux clearly hadn’t seen it yet, and Kylo didn’t point it out.

“I hope he will,” Kylo said with complete honesty. “I’d be really disappointed if not.”

Hux was silent a moment, eyes on the ground. “So what’s this _cute boy_ like?” he asked at last, and Kylo thought he sounded almost shy.

Kylo had to ball his fingers up again to stop himself from taking Hux’s hand. “He’s really pretty. Has this cute nose that scrunches up when he’s offended. And I’m always offending him.”

“Sounds like a match made in heaven,” Hux said dryly. “What else do you like about him?”

Kylo’s pulse was starting to quicken again as he became more convinced that Hux _knew_ , and that he wanted to hear it. Kylo kept his eye on the creepy figure lurking in the corn while he continued talking.

“He’s really smart. I saw him give a talk one time at a convention. He had this awesome theory on how there could be literally hundreds of thousands of worlds like Earth out there in the universe.”

He heard a muted intake of breath beside him--if Hux hadn’t known Kylo was talking about him before, he knew now.

It was the perfect moment to act.

“Holy shit,” Kylo blurted, flinging his arm out and pointing at the figure lurking just to Hux’s left. “What the fuck is that?”

Hux gave a choked shout and jumped, whirling around and stumbling back into Kylo, who was ready for it. Kylo had angled himself just right, so Hux’s shoulders bumped against his chest.

Kylo wrapped one arm loosely around Hux, unable to stop himself from laughing, and gave Hux a moment to pull away. When Hux only stood there trembling and taking short, panicked breaths, Kylo shifted closer to him and slid his other arm around Hux’s waist. Heart in his throat, Kylo waited for Hux to react. To shake him off or relax in his arms.

“You’re an asshole,” Hux muttered.

Kylo dipped his head, touching his nose to Hux’s temple. _God_ his hair smelled good. “See? I’m always offending him.”

Hux shivered and Kylo inched closer, stomach swooping when Hux leaned into him, adjusting the fit of his body against Kylo’s so that his perfect ass aligned with the cradle of Kylo’s hips. Kylo splayed his hand over Hux’s belly, ached to dip his fingers beneath his soft sweater, but children’s laughter farther along the path forced him back to reality.

Hux must have had the same thought, because he edged away, straightening his sweater and looking at Kylo with glassy eyes. He was as flushed as Kylo felt.

“Don’t do that again,” Hux said.

Kylo deflated. “I’m sorry,” he said, disappointment squeezing his heart.

“Scare me,” Hux clarified. “Don’t _scare me_ again.”

“Oh,” Kylo said, grinning stupidly as they started walking again.

Hux didn’t look at him, but he smiled.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Hux wasn’t quite sure he was in the correct version of his life.

Just that morning, he’d arrived at work, spent the obligatory amount of energy being irritated at Kylo’s too-loud punk rock in the parking lot, suffered Kylo to open doors for him, and endured his ubiquitous teasing. Hux had gone about his day, helped his customers, and counted his cash drawer, fully prepared to go home and open a bottle of pinot noir, which he’d planned to enjoy while watching a movie with his cat.

And now here he was wandering through a corn maze with Kylo, and he wasn’t sure which fact was more bizarre: that he was out doing _holiday_ things, or that he was with his nemesis.

And the strangest part was the fact that he was _enjoying_ it.

Hux glanced over at Kylo, who was looking at him with round, dark eyes, and Hux felt anew the warmth of Kylo’s body pressed against him. That broad chest had been _toned_ , belly hard and flat and arms strong, and Hux’s cheeks heated at the memory of how he’d responded to Kylo’s cheap trick. Hux should have pulled away, berated him and told him that he was absolutely not interested in whatever Kylo was offering, and that he’d only agreed to come along tonight because needling Dopheld entertained him.

Instead, Hux had swooned into Kylo’s arms like a damsel in distress, and now the boy was giving him the most alarming puppy-dog eyes.

“So…” Hux said hesitantly, unsure where to steer the conversation. “You were really at the conference when I spoke?”

Kylo smiled. “Yep. I think you’re the only person I’ve ever heard that can make math sound sexy.”

Hux’s stomach dipped at the way the word _sexy_ sounded in Kylo’s deep tenor. “Is that what does it for you?” he asked. “Equations?”

Kylo snorted with laughter and swayed toward Hux, bumping their shoulders together. “Yes. You plus me equals…”

“Don’t finish that,” Hux said with a bark of laughter, waving his hands like he could erase the words from the air. “You seriously need to work on your pick up lines.”

“Oh yeah?” Kylo asked, grinning.. “That made you blush.”

Hux gave him an incredulous look. “It’s thirty degrees out here. I’m flushed from the cold, not _blushing_.” It was an absolute lie, but Kylo couldn’t know that for sure.

“Mmm hmm.” Kylo had shifted closer while they strolled through the rest of the maze at a lazy pace, and now he was scant inches away. As they had to make way for another flock of unruly children dashing by, Hux felt Kylo’s fingers brush his--knuckles grazing gently, forefinger slipping between Hux’s. The pads of those fingers touched, and Hux _should_ have moved his hand away, _should_ have found some graceful way to extricate himself from this appalling situation, but his normally quick mind was muddled by the alternate reality he’d stepped into. Hux’s fingers twitched of their own accord, sliding between Kylo’s, and then they were twined together, palm to palm.

 _Fuck_ . Hux wasn’t the type of person that _held hands_ . And especially not in a blasted _corn maze_.

Hux said nothing, but he shivered as Kylo’s thumb stroked across the thin skin of Hux’s wrist. Kylo seemed likewise disinclined to speak, as though afraid to disrupt this tentative thing that he’d tricked Hux into, and Hux used the silence to try desperately to imagine how he would get out of this, since there was no way he could date a boy five years his junior that worked at _Hot Topic_ , for God’s sake.

No inspiration came to him, however, and so by the time the exit to the maze loomed a few steps ahead, not only was Hux still holding Kylo’s hand, but their fingers were twined more tightly.

The look they got from Dopheld when they emerged actually made Hux feel marginally guilty, and that, in the end, was what made him let go of Kylo and draw away, tucking his hands beneath his arms.

Doph was huddled with Kylo’s cousin and her boyfriend, and Rey’s knowing grin made Hux feel instantly defensive. Doph shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground while Hux tried to ignore the slightly hurt look Kylo was giving him for letting go of his hand.

“We’re gonna to go get cider and caramel apples,” Finn announced brightly. “You guys want to come with?”

Dopheld stirred, glancing up at Kylo and then away. “I think I’m going to head home,” he said with a tight smile. “See you guys later.”

They all watched him walk away with his shoulders hunched, and then Rey shook her head at Kylo.

“You’re clueless,” she said.

Hux saw Kylo’s cheeks bloom with color and he shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t know.”

“Blind, too,” Finn said.

Kylo sighed. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.” He looked at Hux then and added hopefully, “You staying?”

Rey and Finn seemed to take that as their cue to head off toward the concessions, leaving Kylo and Hux alone in their awkward moment. What Hux _should_ have done was make an excuse to go, to end all of whatever this was quickly and as painlessly as possible, but instead he found himself shrugging.

“I wouldn’t mind something hot,” he said, wincing at his choice of words. “To drink.”

Kylo grinned, and for some reason Hux felt relieved.

 

Kylo insisted on buying Hux cider and a caramel apple that had been rolled in salty, chopped peanuts, which was far more tooth-rottingly sweet of a thing than Hux usually allowed himself. They found a bench to sit on beneath a tree, its branches lit by twinkling orange fairy lights and strewn beneath with an assortment of jack-o-lanterns.

When they’d sat, Kylo had left half an arm’s length of space between them, and Hux felt slightly mollified by the gesture. He was more than a little overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events and feeling skittish.

Kylo had both long legs stretched out into the grass, and he toed one of the jack-o-lanterns, making the candle inside wobble slightly, which in turn made the pumpkin’s angular eyes flicker.

“Did you carve your jack-o-lantern yet?” Kylo asked.

Hux huffed into his cider. “No. I live in an apartment.”

“So,” Kylo said. “Doesn’t mean you can’t have one.”

Hux licked caramel off his apple and saw Kylo’s eyes drawn by the movement of his tongue. It stirred something in Hux’s belly, making him imagine what else he could use his tongue for that would have Kylo mesmerized.

Hux shook that thought away. “Where would I put it?”

Kylo shrugged, taking a moment to look away from the apple Hux was now biting into. Kylo’s own apple, which was coated in garishly colored gummy worms, was forgotten in the hand that rested in his lap.

“I don’t know. On your coffee table? Kitchen counter? You can’t have Halloween without a jack-o-lantern, Hux.”

“I told you, Kylo,” Hux said. “I don’t believe in Halloween.”

Kylo rolled his eyes and plucked a gummy worm off his apple with his teeth, sucking it in slowly while Hux stared. _Obscene creature._

“So Dopheld really has a crush on me?” Kylo asked with his mouth full.

“Clearly,” Hux said. “You saw how he absconded when he saw us...um. Holding hands.” Hux felt suddenly warm--partly embarrassed, and partly something else he couldn’t quite define.

Kylo was looking at him now, his plump, bottom lip pinched between his teeth. There was no mistaking the look of longing--it was the same expression that Dopheld wore for Kylo.

“I kind of feel bad,” Kylo murmured, “but I feel like it was pretty obvious who I’ve wanted for the last four years.” He set a hand on the bench between them and Hux glanced at it. As he did, Kylo shifted it closer to Hux and brushed his fingers against the side of Hux’s knee.

Hux couldn’t deny the way Kylo’s touch put butterflies in his stomach. Kylo might be five years younger and he might work at Hot Topic but he was, otherwise, just Hux’s type. Tall and dark and broad, with big hands and long fingers. Hux shivered again.

“You gonna make me do the whole ‘pretend to yawn and then drape my arm around you’ thing?” Kylo asked. “Or are you going to come here?”

The way Kylo said that almost carried the air of a command, and Hux felt every nerve in his body respond. And yet, he had to maintain his dignity.

“ _You_ can come over here,” Hux told him, sipping his cider primly. “I’m quite comfortable where I am.”

Kylo smiled, a touch of amusement in the expression, but he didn’t object. Instead, he scooted across the bench until they were touching side to side, resting his arm on Hux’s leg. Kylo turned it palm up, spreading his fingers open in invitation, and after a moment of hesitation, Hux set his apple aside on its paper plate and gave Kylo his hand. He felt like a damned teenager. He was much too old for stuff like this.

“So if you really had a crush on me for the last four years,” Hux said after several minutes of companionable silence, “why didn’t you ever ask me out?”

“I did. About a hundred times. You always said no.”

Hux turned his head sharply, trying to get a good look at Kylo from this angle. “You did not!”

Kylo vibrated with silent laughter, tilting his head back and looking at the stars like he was begging for mercy.

Kylo mimicked his own voice. “Hey, Hux, we’re going ice-skating this weekend, wanna go? Gonna sit around the fire pit tonight, wanna come over? Hey, Hux, there’s a party at my friend’s house tomorrow if you want to go.” He turned to look at Hux, their faces inches apart. “Want me to go on?”

Hux was definitely blushing now. “I always thought you just wanted to hang out.”

Kylo inched just a fraction closer, their noses almost touching. “I did.”

Kylo’s breath was warm on Hux’s lips, vapor in the chilly night air. “Well I don’t _hang out_ ,” Hux muttered.

“What should I have said then?” Kylo asked, thumb stroking Hux’s hand again. “Hey, Hux, I have a huge crush on you, wanna be my boyfriend?”

Hux snorted. “That might have been a bit too forward.”

Kylo’s lips quirked up at one corner and he dipped his head a little closer. “Is it too forward if I kiss you?” His voice was barely a whisper.

Hux nodded, dazed, but he found himself touching his nose to Kylo’s and tilting his head and leaning closer, just enough that Kylo took the hint and touched their lips together. Hux’s whole body tingled at the soft sigh Kylo made, at the low purr that sounded like _relief_.

Hux pulled back, leaving Kylo with just that chaste sample. “There are children around,” Hux murmured.

Kylo smiled, unruffled. His eyes looked glassy in the twinkling lights strung above them in the tree. He touched his nose to Hux’s again and Hux let Kylo kiss him just _one_ more time, for just a few seconds longer. When he pulled away again, Kylo was once more wearing that lovesick puppy look that Hux realized suddenly he _had_ seen many times before. And he’d called _Kylo_ blind.

“Hey, lovebirds!”

They both snapped out of their respective trances and looked up to see Rey and Finn standing there. Rey waved dramatically.

“We’re gonna go through the haunted house,” she said. “Ya’ll coming?”

Hux opened his mouth to object, to say he didn’t do _haunted houses_ , but then he felt Kylo squeeze his hand.

Hux guessed he could try something new. Just this once.

  


\--

 

The following Monday, Kylo didn’t show up for his shift at the Hot Topic, and Hux couldn’t concentrate.

Kylo _always_ worked Mondays, and Hux spent most of the morning staring through the storefront’s glass window eyeing every person that walked into Kylo’s store, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

“Why don’t you just text him?” Thannison muttered from beside Hux.

Hux threw him a startled glance, having forgotten his hourly employee was there. “What are you talking about?”

Thannison rolled his eyes dramatically. “Uh huh. You don’t fool me, Armitage.”

“Don’t call me that,” Hux snapped.

“Whatever. I know you like him.” Thannison was carefully shifting the hangers on a display into equally spaced intervals. Hux liked that about him, even if he was insubordinate.

“And I know you like that dopey kid from Starbucks,” Hux countered, pulling a powder blue, size large shirt from the rack and replacing it in the correct order of ascending sizes.

Thannison had paused and was staring at Hux. “Dopheld? Everyone knows he only has eyes for Kylo.” He sounded bitter.

“Well he can’t have Kylo,” Hux said, belatedly realizing how that had sounded--like Kylo belonged to Hux now.

Thannison snorted and went back to organizing the rack. “You’re a dick, Hux.”

“Whatever,” Hux muttered. “Go ask Dopheld out.” He walked away before Thannison could say any more, and was blessedly distracted by a customer entering the store.

Hux was assisting the man with choosing a winter coat ten minutes later, thinking it was the sort of coat that would look nice on Kylo, when Kylo himself appeared in the doorway of the store.

Hux stumbled over what he’d been saying to the customer when Kylo grinned at him, and Hux had to aggressively ignore him until he found the right moment to excuse himself.

Kylo was holding two Starbuck’s cups, steam rising from the openings in the lids. He held one out to Hux, who took it and then gestured at Kylo to step outside the store and around the corner.

“I thought you always worked on Mondays,” Hux said, popping the lid off the cup and inhaling the delicious aroma of pumpkin spice.

“My team is scheduling practices on Mondays now,” Kylo told Hux, leaning against the wall with one shoulder.

“Team?” Hux blinked at him.

“Hockey, Hux.” Kylo huffed like Hux should have known this, and perhaps he should have. 

Hux took a sip of the steaming coffee, eyelashes fluttering. “You play hockey?” It did explain why he wore that red and black Knights jersey from time to time.

Kylo nodded. “I’m good at it, too. When’s your break?”

“Twelve. Why?” Hux asked.

Kylo shuffled a step closer, leaned against the wall again. “Come eat lunch with me.” He moved the arm closest to the wall, brushing Hux’s fingers.

Hux, against his better judgement, linked his index finger around Kylo’s. “We can’t be seen this way,” he hissed, looking over his shoulder at the store, while not letting go of Kylo.

Kylo curled his finger more surely around Hux’s. “Meet you in the food court at noon?”

Hux hesitated, realizing that he was letting this snowball roll inexorably downhill, whatever was going on with Kylo getting bigger by the minute.

“Sure,” he said. Because he had remarkable self discipline.

Kylo grinned, glanced at Hux’s lips and twitched forward like he wanted to kiss him, but stopped himself. He settled for squeezing Hux’s finger before loping down the corridor toward the escalator.

 

Hux took his break ten minutes early and Thannison rolled his eyes at Hux’s excuse about needing to shop for a new pair of shoes.

Kylo was sprawled in a chair at a table outside Hux’s favorite eatery--a little French bakery that made amazing, buttery croissants, and he waved at Hux.

“How did you know I like this place?” Hux asked, sliding into the chair across from Kylo. There was a box on the table from Cinnabon, and Hux frowned at it.

Kylo raised his eyebrows. “I pay attention,” he said. “And you eat there three days out of four. Which I don’t get, because everything is overpriced.”

“You have no taste,” Hux told him.

He felt Kylo’s foot nudge his. “I have very good taste,” he said, looking into Hux’s eyes, and Hux colored, glancing away.

“I got us lunch,” Kylo said, and Hux heard the cardboard box on the table being popped open. He looked on critically as Kylo flattened the box into a mimicry of a serving tray beneath an enormous iced cinnamon roll drizzled with chocolate. “It’s pumpkin flavored.”

He looked at Hux hopefully, and Hux realized Kylo was hoping it would please him. He racked his brain briefly, wondering how Kylo had realized Hux’s love of all things pumpkin-flavored in the fall. He was, he had to admit, a little charmed.

“So,” Hux said, reaching out and peeling a piece of the cinnamon roll off, determined to make an effort. “You had the day off work, but you came down to this hellhole just to bring me a coffee and buy me a cinnamon roll?”

Kylo smiled, peeling a long coil of the bun off for himself. “Yep. I missed you.”

Hux’s stomach fluttered and his throat felt a little dry as he swallowed the pastry. “I was starting to wonder if Friday night had actually happened or if I’d just imagined it,” he said, trying to sound droll.

Kylo’s feet locked around one of his, the toe of his shoe nudging Hux’s calf. “It definitely happened,” he said. “I was going to ask you if maybe it could happen again.”

Hux sucked icing off his fingers, almost laughing at the way Kylo’s eyes went slightly wide as he watched. “The progression of time doesn’t quite work that way. Things move forward, not back.”

Kylo smiled. “You’re such a geek.”

“I’m offended,” Hux said, swiping icing off the cinnamon bun and licking it off his finger demurely.

“You’re killing me,” Kylo said, half whine, and Hux blinked at him innocently.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he said, slipping the end of his finger in his mouth and hollowing his cheeks.

Kylo made an undignified noise and covered his face with his hands, shoulders shaking with laughter and the tips of his ears red. When he finally peeked at Hux again over the edge of his hands, Hux gave him a smug smile.

“So you were saying? About repeating things?” Hux prompted.

Kylo dropped his arms back to the table, peeling off another strip of the cinnamon roll and stuffing it in his mouth. He swallowed and dusted crumbs off his fingers.

“This is me officially asking you out,” he said. “Like, hi hello my name is Kylo and I think you’re really hot and please will you out with me?”

Hux suppressed laughter. “Go out how? In what way?”

“In _that_ way. Like, on a date. Like the kind where we hold hands and I guess you good night after.”

Hux scrunched his nose. “That sounds like something people do in high school.”

Kylo raised his eyebrows. “Well we can upgrade to the adult version right after I kiss you,” he suggested, caressing Hux’s calf again with the toe of his boot. “I’m totally down.”

Desire curled in Hux’s belly and he realized that he, too, was remarkably interested in that. What had his life become?

“I’ll think about it,” he told Kylo, meaning to be a tease about it, and instantly feeling bad at the crestfallen look on Kylo’s face. “I’ll think about it while you walk me to my car after I get off."

"You don't get off until four," Kylo said. 

Hux smiled. "True. I suppose we'll see how much you want me to go out with you."

"I guess we will," Kylo told him.

 

Hux honestly didn't expect Kylo to show up outside the Burberry at four o'clock, but he did. 

He let Kylo walk close to him as they headed toward the employee exit near their stores, and kept up a dialogue about Kylo’s hockey career and his classes and his plans for after graduation. All the while, Hux was debating whether he was really going to allow this fledgling thing between them to become something more, because he knew that the moment he accepted Kylo’s request to go out in _that_ way, the only way out of it was to hurt his feelings. Afterward he might have to come into work one day and find that Kylo wasn’t there anymore. Wouldn’t be there to annoy him with his music, or open doors for him, or walk him down the hall anymore, teasing him like a child. Hux knew he would miss all of that.

By the time they’d made it outside and across the parking lot to Hux’s car, Hux had made up his mind.

“I suppose,” he said, leaning one hip against his car door, “that you can take me to a movie. But I get to pick.”

Kylo grinned, visibly relaxing, like he’d actually thought Hux would say no. “Sure,” he said. “When?”

Hux mulled it over briefly. “Tonight?”

“Okay,” Kylo said, still smiling, then shifted closer to Hux. “Can I kiss you again?”

Hux glanced around the parking lot--this time of day it was crowded, people walking back and forth from their cars. He looked at Kylo again, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“Just once,” Hux told him. “And quickly.”

Kylo didn’t hesitate. He leaned in and captured Hux’s lips with a soft kiss and _fuck,_ his lips were so warm and he tasted like sugar and cinnamon and Hux couldn’t peel himself away. That _quick_ kiss turned into Hux opening his mouth to the gentle press of Kylo’s tongue, to letting him inside and letting him slip a hand beneath Hux’s shirt.

Hux gasped softly at Kylo’s chilly fingers and flinched back. “Save something for tonight, huh?” he suggested.

“Right,” Kylo murmured, and then opened Hux’s car door for him. “We meeting here for the movie?”

“Fuck, no,” Hux said. “I hate this place.”

Kylo laughed. “Okay. Text me where and when, then.” They’d exchanged numbers while they’d finished eating earlier.

Hux nodded and started his car. Kylo shut the door for him and waved, smiling, and just as Hux was putting the car into drive, Kylo knocked on his window and gestured for him to roll it down.

Hux did, and before he could ask Kylo what he wanted, Kylo ducked his head through the open window and pressed another kiss to Hux’s lips.

“See you tonight,” he whispered.  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Halloween Day

  


“How many times are you going to look at yourself in the mirror, Kylo?”

Kylo turned around, despite the fact that he could see Rey’s reflection in the mirror; she was hovering, uninvited, in his bathroom doorway  

“I can’t get my hair to lay right,” he griped, turning back to the mirror and running his fingers through his thick mane again.

He heard Rey sigh, and then she was wedging herself into the bathroom and guiding him away from the mirror by his elbow.

“Sit,” she said, pointing at the toilet.

Kylo sank down onto the closed lid of the toilet and watched Rey rifle through his vanity. She pulled a can of aerosol hairspray out from under the sink and rolled a black hair-tie onto her wrist. She snapped her fingers at Kylo.

“Bow your head,” she told him, smirking.

“I won’t swear allegiance to you,” Kylo told her, then yelped as she flicked him on the ear.

“Do as you’re told, peasant.”

“Tyrant,” he mumbled, lowering his head and letting his hair spill across his face.

Rey’s fingers began to gently comb through his locks, pulling it back from his forehead.

“So are you going to propose to him tonight?” she asked.

Kylo’s ears burned. “We’ve been on like, three dates, Rey.”

She gathered strands of hair in her fist, making a half-tail. “Have you at least exchanged promise rings?”

“We haven’t even slept together yet,” Kylo told her, wincing as Rey bound his hair tightly with the band.

“Eww,” she said. “I don’t need those details.”

“You started it.”

Rey tapped him beneath his chin and Kylo raised his head. She assessed her work, then covered Kylo’s eyes with her hand.

“You know I’m going to have to kill him if he treats you bad,” she said, and Kylo heard a tight note in her voice that suggested a grain of truth. Rey had been witness to the entire scope of Kylo’s infatuation with Hux, and had judged Hux to be an asshole years ago. No one, she’d told Kylo, could have been that oblivious.

Kylo held his breath while Rey sprayed his hair with the aerosol mist, then met her eyes when she stepped back.

“You should just be happy for me,” he grumbled.

Rey frowned, looking remarkably like Leia for a moment. “Jury’s still out. Leave your hair up like that until you get to his house, then just finger comb it into place.”

Kylo stood up, looking at himself in the mirror and frowning. “Makes my ears look huge,” he said.

“You look good,” Rey said in the same no-nonsense-don’t-argue-with-me tone that his mother used.

Kylo sighed, turning around to squeeze Rey into a bear-hug. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Rey grunted, her voice muffled by Kylo’s chest. “You haven’t missed the Delta Lambda Phi party in four years. Don’t you think it’s weird that Hux doesn’t want to go with you?”

Kylo released her, laughing. “Listen. The guy I’ve had a crush on for four years offered to trade that party for spending Halloween at his place. Alone with him,” he said, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper and leaning in, closer to Rey. “You know what’s at his house?”

Rey scowled at him. “Do I want to know?”

“His _bedroom_ ,” Kylo said.

Rey threw both hands in the air, then waved him out of the bathroom.. “Nope, didn’t want to know.”

Kylo laughed, slipping past her and out the door.  He padded down the hall to his bedroom, trying to tamp down the anxiety that he seemed doomed to feel every time he met up with Hux now. Ever since Hux had finally said yes to a _real_ date.

Tonight would be the fourth. He’d taken Hux to a movie, they’d gone to a little Italian place for dinner, and gotten brunch, but Hux had seemed reticent so far. They hadn’t done much more than hold hands and kiss, and this was the first time Hux had invited Kylo to his place. Kylo couldn’t shake the feeling that he was in some sort of trial phase, where Hux was deciding whether Kylo was really his type.

Kylo shrugged the thought away for the moment and picked his phone up from the bed; there were no new messages, which he decided to take as a good thing, since at least Hux wasn’t cancelling their plans. He scrolled back through their recent string of texts, analyzing whether he should have used that heart emoji the night before, and what it meant that Hux had only replied with a smiley face.

He tossed the phone back down and concentrated on putting the finishing touches to his costume.

 

* * *

 

 

Hux’s apartment was in the city, and it took Kylo ten minutes to find a parking space. He took his time walking up the four flights of stairs after Hux buzzed him in, lost in thought while analyzing what Rey had said about it being _weird_ that Hux didn’t want to go to the Delta Lambda Phi party with him. Kylo hadn’t asked him why at the time, partly because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, and partly because Hux blindsided him by suggesting Kylo come to his place instead.

By the time he knocked on Hux’s door, Kylo was alight with nerves, like this was their first date and he was sixteen instead of twenty-two, and he had no idea what to expect.

Seconds before Hux opened the door, Kylo remembered the way his reflection had highlighted his too-large ears, and he reached up and tugged the hair-band out, desperately trying to comb it down with his fingers.

The door clicked as the lock was disengaged, and then Hux was standing there, looking at him.

“Hi,” Kylo said.

Hux’s eyes raked the length of Kylo’s frame. “Who are you supposed to be?”

Kylo let out a short huff of laughter. “Anakin Skywalker. I’m suddenly questioning this relationship.” He almost bit his tongue after saying that, since technically they weren’t in _a relationship_. Yet.

Hux met his eyes, bottom lip curving into a delicious pout. “That’s too bad.” He stepped back, holding the door open.

Kylo slipped inside, glancing around. Hux’s apartment was small and tidy, everything in shades of dark gray but for pale blue accents, black and white photographs on the walls, and numerous houseplants.

“Your place is nice,” Kylo said, gravitating toward one framed photograph over the small table in the kitchen while Hux shut the door behind him.. “Where was this taken?”

“Pompeii,” Hux said. “I went the summer after I finished undergrad.”

Kylo studied the photo a moment longer and then set the paper grocery bag he was carrying down on the table.

“I brought you something,” Kylo said, shrugging out of his backpack next and setting it on one of the two chairs.

Hux came closer, pulling back the rim of the bag and peeking inside. “A pumpkin?”

“Yep,” Kylo said. “You need a jack-o-lantern. Told you.”

Hux gave him an amused look. “Are you going to carve it for me, then?”

Kylo shrugged one shoulder. “If you want.” He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a six pack of pumpkin ale and an oversized bag of mini candy bars.

Hux made a noise--half laugh and half scoff. It was a very _Hux_ noise. “You really take this Halloween thing seriously, don’t you?” he asked, taking one of the beers out of the carton and looking at the label. He made a face.

“It’s good, I promise,” Kylo told him. “You going to help me carve this pumpkin? It’s bad luck if you don’t.”

Hux eyed him. “Bad luck? That doesn’t sound like a real thing.” He replaced the beer in the carton. “I still have to get dressed, since you insist on me wearing a costume to sit around the apartment,” Hux said, shuffling closer to him and cupping the back of Kylo’s neck. He pulled Kylo easily into a kiss, then said against his lips, “Knives are hanging by the stove.”

Kylo watched him walk away, filled with the particular sort of frustration that these too-short moments of physical contact engendered. He wanted hours to do nothing but kiss and touch and drink Hux in, but it seemed things were going to move at Hux’s pace.

Which was fine, because at least this was _finally_ happening.

Kylo busied himself with carving the pumpkin, feeling strangely warmed by the fact that he was in Hux’s kitchen, in Hux’s apartment, given free rein of the space and things that belonged to Hux. It felt like something an established couple did--sharing a space, being trusted to be alone with the other person’s stuff. It felt almost next level, like maybe Hux was starting to think of them as a real couple. The thought gave Kylo butterflies in his stomach, and he pinched himself on the arm to make sure he was really awake, and that this was really his life.

The kitchen filled with the smell of raw pumpkin, lingering on the air with the aroma of the Autumn Leaves candle that Hux had left burning on the counter-top. Kylo had the pumpkin in the sink, scooping the seeds into the paper bag as he rehearsed different ways he could ask Hux if this was something official between them. Wondering if he should tell Hux that he didn’t want to date anyone else. It would probably seem sudden and clingy, since this was all new to Hux, but this flame had been burning in Kylo’s heart for years.

Kylo had transferred the pumpkin to the counter and was considering what sort of jack-o-lantern the shape called for when Hux materialized behind him.

“Well? What do you think?”

Kylo turned his head, feeling his jaw drop. Hux had exchanged his black slacks for a pair of skin-tight red pants with black cross hatching and a short-sleeved, red t-shirt that rode up just enough over the low-slung pants that Kylo could see a glimpse of the fine red hair that trailed from navel to waistband.

“Holy shit,” Kylo murmured, turning all the way around.

Hux was chewing on the inside of his cheek, eyebrows drawn down, and Kylo realized he looked anxious. Not much different than Kylo’s own reflection had looked before he’d left the house.

“I didn’t really have time to shop for a costume,” Hux said, shrugging.

“You look fucking amazing,” he told Hux, craning his head to get a better look at Hux’s ass, only realizing what he was doing after it was obvious. He straightened again, feeling his cheeks warm.

Hux preened. “You didn’t ask what I am.”

“You’re hot.”

Hux rolled his eyes and lifted his arms, and only then did Kylo notice the sequined red devil horns from Hot Topic. Hux slid them into place in his artfully tousled hair.

Kylo didn’t catch his delighted laugh in time, but luckily that seemed to be the reaction Hux was going for.

“I will have you know,” Hux said, “I made a purchase in that emo store of yours _just_ for you. It was a great sacrifice on my part.”

Kylo couldn’t keep the amused grin from his face, and he reached out and tugged Hux close by the hem of his shirt. “What exactly did you sacrifice?” he asked.

Hux affected a dour look. “My honor.”

Kylo laughed, wrapping his arms around Hux’s small waist and pulling his slender body flush against his own. Hux lifted his arms and draped them over Kylo’s shoulders, circling his neck.

“I’m very touched you would go to such drastic lengths to make me happy,” Kylo said, nuzzling Hux’s neck and pressing a kiss to it before he really thought about what he was doing. He froze, but instead of pulling away, Hux made a low sound in his throat and tilted his head to one side.

Kylo’s stomach dipped with desire and he touched his lips to Hux’s skin again, savoring the heat and the thrum of his pulse-point. He traced the column of his throat from collarbone to earlobe, hesitating only a moment before he took it between his lips. He felt Hux shiver as he caressed the soft skin with his tongue, and Kylo found himself letting his hands drift down. Hux’s slim hips fit so well in his palms, and he had to force himself not to cup his ass, uninvited.

Kylo placated his desire by dipping one hand beneath Hux’s t-shirt, stroking the small of his back and tracing the contour of his spine. Hux’s shirt was rucked almost to his waist when Hux finally peeled himself away. He was glassy-eyed when he looked at Kylo, lips parted and breathing shallow.

“So, you insisted on this Halloween thing,” Hux said. “Which means we have to wear these costumes, carve this jack-o-lantern, drink pumpkin beer, watch scary movies and eat candy _before_ you get to take my clothes off.”  

Kylo’s throat went dry and he coughed. He was on the way to being hard already, which was apparently unfortunate for him. “I didn’t know _clothes off_ was an option. This is cruel and unusual.”

Hux gave him a slow smile, pointing to the sequined horns on his head. “I know. I’m wicked, aren’t I? Now, where’s the knife?”  


 

They deliberated together about what sort of jack-o-lantern fit Hux as a person, and after looking over several pencil sketches, Hux decided on a simple feline face. He liked cats, he told Kylo, and said there was an orange one hiding in the apartment somewhere, waiting until she'd decided if Kylo was trustworthy enough to reveal herself.

Hux was content to watch Kylo do the work, laughing when Kylo used toothpicks to give the cat-o-lantern little pointed ears and front paws, and they were two beers in apiece by the time they’d carried it to the living room coffee table and lit a candle inside.

“It’ll look better when the sun goes down,” Kylo said, looking out the window where the sun was just beginning to set, casting shades of orange and steel blue across the thin clouds on the horizon.

Hux took a sip of his beer and sank down onto the ice blue couch, drawing his feet up onto the cushion.

“Well, that’s one thing on the list you can mark off,” he said, giving Kylo a coy glance from beneath his pale gold eyelashes.

For a brief second, Kylo didn’t register Hux’s meaning, and then he recalled the list of Halloween requirements Hux had recited in the kitchen. The one that had to be followed, he’d said, before any clothes could be removed.

Kylo walked back to the kitchen and snatched the bag of candy off the table, carrying it back to the couch.

“Item four of five,” he said, settling onto the couch beside Hux. Unlike the evening on the bench outside the corn maze, Kylo sat close to him, gratified when Hux shifted to lean into his side. Kylo wedged his own beer between his knees to hold it while he tore open the bag of candy and set it in his lap.

Hux was smiling as he reached into the bag and plucked out a tiny Snickers bar. He peeled it open with his teeth. “So you aren’t too upset about missing the Delta Lambda Phi party for that cute boy you like?”

Kylo draped his arm across the back of the couch, ruffling the short hair at the nape of Hux’s neck. “Why would I be upset?”

Hux shrugged one shoulder and finished chewing the Snickers before he spoke again. “Because I’m boring?”

Kylo snorted and pinched one of the devil horns on Hux’s head. “You are _not_ boring.”

Hux tore open a Twix and held it up for Kylo to take from his fingers. “I’m old and set in my ways,” he said, licking chocolate off his thumb.

“You’re twenty-six,” Kylo said with his mouth full. He washed the candy down with beer and winced as the flavors collided. “You don’t have to like parties at any age.”

Hux dropped his head back on Kylo’s arm. “I _like_ parties,” he said. “Just not that one.” He glanced up at Kylo. “I may have a bit of a um...reputation...with that crowd. I didn’t really want that coming up. Around you.” Hux’s nose turned pink at that last bit and he looked down again.

Kylo wasn’t sure what to say, as asking about the reputation Hux wanted to stay a secret didn’t seem like the correct course of action, and voicing the flood of relief that he felt all of a sudden felt like admitting how insecure this all made him.

He settled for kissing Hux’s temple and nuzzling his soft hair. “I like this a lot more,” he said.

Maybe that was the right response, because Hux moved his hand from his own lap to Kylo’s, sliding it between Kylo’s thighs. It just rested there, unmoving, but the proximity and the intimacy and possessiveness of it all made Kylo’s stomach flutter.

With his other hand, Hux picked up the remote from the cushion beside him and flicked on the TV.

“Item five of five,” he said, tabbing to Netflix.   


 

Hux, it turned out, liked zombie movies, and Kylo, it turned out, did not.

The one Hux had picked for them, without any objection from Kylo, was _Train to Busan_ , and it required more concentration than a date movie really needed to, as it was in Korean and necessitated reading the subtitles. It was, unsurprisingly, set mostly on a cramped train packed with the undead, and it made Kylo feel incredibly claustrophobic. He said nothing, however, because Hux hadn’t seen it yet, and he chattered about zombie movies and ZA novels he’d read and Kylo just wanted to hear him talk.

The sun had set some time ago, and now the only light in the apartment came from the television and the flickering candle inside the pumpkin. Hux was warm against his side, the hand between Kylo’s thighs occasionally and absently moving along the length of his slightly parted legs, driving Kylo to absolute (welcomed) distraction.

He’d been paying such marginal attention to the story that when the credits began to roll, Kylo felt a twinge of anxious surprise. Until Hux exited out of the movie and started scrolling through the recommendations again.

“What next?” he asked.

Kylo swallowed, disappointed, but he told himself he had no right to think anything else was going to happen tonight...it was only their fourth date, after all. And really, this was enough. Just being in the same _room_ as Hux was more than he felt he could hope for only a few short weeks ago.

“Whichever you want,” he told Hux, meaning it.

The cursor on the screen paused for a moment and then resumed, flicking quickly to a title which splashed to the opening credits before Kylo even had a chance to catch the name. Hux tossed the remote on the couch, sat up to drop the bag of candy on the coffee table, and in one fluid motion turned around and straddled Kylo’s thighs.

“I’m not sure I can date you,” he said, punctuating that with an incongruous kiss.

Kylo was taken off guard by Hux’s words and didn’t manage to kiss him back before he’d pulled away.

“What did I do?” Kylo asked him, confused.

Hux smirked and kissed him again. “You don’t like zombie movies.”

Kylo let out a relieved laugh. “Was it that obvious?”

“Mmmhm.” Hux leaned closer and kissed the underside of Kylo’s jaw, peppering kisses up to his ear, tonguing the lobe before whispering, “They make you really _tense_.”

Kylo breathed out, shivering, and wrapped his arms around Hux. He pushed his hands beneath Hux’s t-shirt, caressing the soft plane of his back, testing the circumference of that small waist in his grip. Kylo meant to stop there, but he wanted to _touch_ , wanted to feel how tiny Hux’s nipples would be under his thumbs, wanted to trace the shape of Hux’s shoulder blades.

Hux didn’t stop him. Instead, he lifted his arms over his head and let Kylo pull his t-shirt off. It caught on the devil horns and pulled them off too, leaving Hux’s hair a fluffed mess over his eyes. For some reason, that disarmed, soft look distracted Kylo from everything else, and he cupped the back of Hux’s head with both hands to pull him into a kiss.

“How the hell am I supposed to get this off of you?” Hux asked when they parted long minutes later. He sat back on Kylo’s thighs and tugged at the front of his tunic, frowning. Kylo’s eyes flicked down Hux’s torso; Hux was hard, the tight red pants clinging to the shape of him.

“It’s um...complicated,” Kylo said. “I need to be standing.”

Hux rolled his eyes. “Only an emo goth would go to his boyfriend’s house wearing clothes that are hard to get out of.”

Kylo bit his bottom lip, feeling the boyish grin on his face. “Boyfriend?”

Hux raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that what this is?”

Kylo leaned forward and caught Hux’s lips in another kiss, then said against them, “I hope so.”

Hux smiled. “We should take this in the bedroom.”

He started to slide out of Kylo’s lap and Kylo caught him with one finger linked over the waistband of his pants.

“Wait,” he said, holding onto Hux while he shook out Hux’s discarded t-shirt until the sequined horns fell out onto the couch. He picked them up and nestled them back onto Hux’s head.

“Okay, now we’re good,” Kylo said, grinning.

 

* * *

 

  


It was nearly midnight when Kylo, exhausted and completely spent, finally started to fall asleep. He’d almost gotten there an hour before with Hux spooned around him, but then Hux had woken him up with a well-placed hand and they’d managed a third round.

Kylo had imagined a lot of things about Hux over the years, but none of it had even approached how good it felt to be with him. He thought to himself as he was drifting off that he never wanted to leave, that he could spend tomorrow and the next day and the day after in Hux’s bed, close to him, surrounded by his smell. Comforted and aroused by his touch.

Distantly, he felt Hux’s fingers tracing the divot of his spine, where the sweat had only just started to dry. He felt Hux turn over on the bed, the mattress dipping, and then Hux was nudging up against him. Instinctively, Kylo rolled onto his side and gathered Hux close, hearing him hum contentedly.

It had been four years since Kylo had first seen him. A week since they’d gone on their first official date. Three hours since the word _boyfriend_ had begun to describe what Hux was to him. So how long did it have to be before Kylo could tell Hux he loved him?

He thought about that for a moment, pressing his nose to the back of Hux’s neck, and the thoughts began to shape themselves into a dream as sleep dragged him down.

He snapped awake abruptly, violently, when something hit the pillow by his head, hard. It was followed by a yowl, scant inches from Kylo’s ear, and he jerked away.

“What the fuck?” he hissed, only to feel Hux quivering in his arms.

“Kylo, meet Millicent.”

Kylo let out a shuddering breath, his heart pounding. _How the hell did cats manage to come out of absolute nowhere like that?_

“I don’t think she likes me,” he said, squirming closer to Hux.

“You’re sleeping on her pillow.”

Kylo vibrated with laughter and moved his head, making space, and felt Millicent plop heavily down beside him. He was just starting to drift off again when he felt a tail settle over his nose.

“Hux,” he whined, blowing on the tail to no avail.

Hux was laughing again, as though he knew without turning around exactly what was happening.

“Happy Halloween, Kylo.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so FUN working on this with [Starkickback](starkickback.tumblr.com) ! Please go give her some love.
> 
> It might interest those of you who've enjoyed this story to know that Star and I have decided we just really need to include a little holiday cameo for each of the upcoming holidays, so the boys and their fledgling relationship will be back on Black Friday, Christmas, and New Years! Subscribe if you want those updates!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and for your encouragement, and Happy Halloween!


	5. Directory Assistance

This is a temporary chapter to direct you lovely subscribers to the fact that the next installment I promised has been posted as part two of a series! Just click the link from this chapter! 

Love y'all!

**Author's Note:**

> Check out Starkickback's [amazing drawing](http://starkickback.tumblr.com/post/178826120179/huxloween-2018-collab-with-kyluxtrashcompactorxxx) of Hux being 100% done with Kylo's shit.
> 
> Here is Star's totally adorbs drawing of Kylo and Hux in the corn maze.
> 
> Check out Starkickback's super cute art of [ Hux and Kylo eating a cinnamon roll!](http://starkickback.tumblr.com/post/179476027637/huxloween-2018-collab-with-kyluxtrashcompactorxxx)
> 
> Cute boys on an ice blue couch are [here!](http://starkickback.tumblr.com/post/179635650009/huxloween-2018-collab-with-kyluxtrashcompactorxxx)


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